Stressed =(

STL2008, RN · Jul 2, 2011

I feel the same. I'm thinking about leaving the profession. I've been working at this profession for almost 3 months. I have really bad anxiety and depression. Cry every day. I don't see it getting better .

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Jul 2, 2011

I wouldn't leave the entire profession based on a bad situation. I would focus that energy into finding a better supportive unit with lower ratios. I am shocked at what I read here. Every place is NOT like that. You just put a lot of time and money into nursing school. A lot of grads feel overwhelmed and so on their first year. That is normal. But rather then just give up on everything, look for a better area that you can be happier in.

tonet0908 · Jul 3, 2011

Looking for some support here, I suppose. I am a new nurse and I've been working on a surgical/cardiac floor on the night shift for almost 6 months. My average patient load is 9 (acute) patients per night. Everyday I am amazed at the stress this job brings. I love being a nurse, but not necessarily in this manner. I am so overwhelmed by the patient load, acuity, and the entirety of the position. I know I went to college for almost 4 years and sacrificed my home and family life for a degree which seems, at this time, to have absolutely no gratitude or appreciation. I spend most every night in a slight jog for 12-15 hours, trying to hold on and trying to maintain safety and be a "nurse" and yet, I feel so unappreciated and I feel like if I emptied my heart and soul to the patients, families, physicians, and veteran nurses, that it would still not come close to being enough. Is this what I signed up for? Help?

I agree with mividaloca, do not leave the profession entirely. Try another unit or setting. Bedside is tough. I've been a Med/Surge/Tele Nurse now for almost 6 yrs straight out of nursing school and I do not feel like it is getting any easier. It is very demanding and stressful. Don't lose hope, something has to give. You're stronger than that.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jul 5, 2011

(full disclosure -- I'm as old as dirt, so my frame of reference is probably not that of younger nurses)

It is a mistake to go nursing expecting "gratitude" or to be "appreciated" by your patients. That's why it's so important for us to support and acknowledge one another. Sorry if that seems harsh, but this is not a profession with tons of kudos. In my experience (Critical Care), patients are struggling to survive and families are focusing all their energy on their loved one. It's unrealistic to expect them to expend energy (they don't have) to worry about what the nurse is feeling. If you are externally motivated, I don't think Nursing will ever meet your needs.

cubbieblue · Jul 7, 2011

I feel the same way working on an ortho med surg floor. The bad days are the norm and I rarely have a decent night that I don't want to run out of there andf never come back. I feel like my brain and heart are racing all the time and am depressed and stressed all the time. I have been a nurse for about a year and don't feel like it is getting any easier for me. Some of the younger nurses I work with seem to be able to get all their work done and get out on time and I am always the last one to leave. I feel like such a loser most of the time. I got excellent grades in school and I thought i would feel more confident with my nursing skills but I feel so down all the time that I want to quit. I have gotten 2 very positive reviews and raises since I started but I myself don't feel I deserve any good praise because I feel like I am barely keeping up with my patient care and always stay late to finish. i love taking care of patients and they seem to like me but I can't handle 6-7 patients a night . I need to see if I can find some other nursing job that isn't so insanely busy. Why does it have to be so hard?

RockinChick66 · Jul 7, 2011

Looking for some support here, I suppose. I am a new nurse and I've been working on a surgical/cardiac floor on the night shift for almost 6 months. My average patient load is 9 (acute) patients per night. Everyday I am amazed at the stress this job brings. I love being a nurse, but not necessarily in this manner. I am so overwhelmed by the patient load, acuity, and the entirety of the position. I know I went to college for almost 4 years and sacrificed my home and family life for a degree which seems, at this time, to have absolutely no gratitude or appreciation. I spend most every night in a slight jog for 12-15 hours, trying to hold on and trying to maintain safety and be a "nurse" and yet, I feel so unappreciated and I feel like if I emptied my heart and soul to the patients, families, physicians, and veteran nurses, that it would still not come close to being enough. Is this what I signed up for? Help?

Wow, 9 pts? I worked on a med surg floor, not tele, and only had a max of 6 pts.

I think that Pt load is too much!!! No wonder u feel the way u do!!

surferbettycrocker · Jul 8, 2011

to the OP and cubbieblue reading your post makes me sad! this job is measured in dog years i think. so 6 months will feel like almost 2 years. i personally think those who pay attention, worked hard in school and were at the head of the class tend to be harder on themselves, care more and take things really to heart at work and as a result burn out faster and are among the first to leave nursing.

it doesnt always get better. maybe if/when you find your niche it will click but the story is mostly the same on medsurg as is it is on tele as it is in ICU just different variations of intensity and intense in different ways.

so you can hang in there and get some experience but think about this--how many of your non nurse friends, family, SO's have said to you the words you type here" i feel so depressed and anxious" because of what they do for a living??? and that anxiety and stress will lead to worsening depression over time if you cant shake the anxiety.

i will just say this: if you keep at it and it doesnt get better then look for other opportunities. do not get stuck. and do not feel bad for making changes that make you feel better.

there are those who were born for this kind of job and what comes with it and there are those who have a more difficult time dealing with the stress of it all. so dont feel badly for not spending the next x amount of years "sticking it out". and dont consider yourselves " a weaker generation,' as i have heard some seasoned professionals intimate, just because you dont want to slog your way through another unrelenting 13 hour shift.

maybe with time you will love bedside, and maybe you wont either way is not wrong.

tdupuis · Jul 22, 2011

Wow cubbieblue, I feel like you took the thoughts right out of my head reading your post. I work on a medical floor and bad days are the norm for me as well, every shift I come home feeling not only physically exhausted but emotionally as well. I've been a new nurse for about a year, though only working own my own since January - I had a 6 month new grad prior to that. During my new grad I thought it was great! I was not aware of how much my preceptors helped me out. Now that I am doing everything on my own I'm very overwhelmed. I also feel like I am barely keeping up, that I am constantly missing things. I can't imagine 6-7 patients, I have a hard enough time looking after 5, so kudos to you! I also don't know why it has to be so hard. I've heard from friends, family "oh it will get easier once you get the hang of things" well I'm pretty sure I've got the 'hang' of things I just can't seem to keep up/organize myself properly to get everything I need to get done in a shift. It is also very discouraging when I see my coworkers leaving on time day after day, and I am there late day after day, I don't know what I'm doing so terribly wrong that everyone else seems to get their jobs done on time and I can't.. I'm a loss for what to do. I have asked coworkers how they plan/organize their days but it doesn't seem to help. Short of having someone follow me around all day pointing out things I do not need to do/take too much time doing I don't know how to change things

I have been looking for other positions elsewhere but nothing has come up that I've felt confident/qualified enough to apply for (plus they are all out of town a good 1/2 hour to 1 hour drive for me, my current job is a 5 minute drive up the street) however I can't help but feel that I will continue to make the same mistakes/be slow at any job.

dorktown · Dec 3, 2011

Wowwwww 9 pts??!! in 2011! What state do you work in. I also just finished my 1st year of nursing on a tele floor. I can't imagine 9 patients!!! I work in Maryland and the ratio is suppose to be only 1nurse:5 patients. But we always end up with 6 patients. And you have to read two strips per patient. It's not safe or ethical. I also am always the last one to leave work because im trying to make sure i covered everything. I can count on one hand when i left a 7:45 this whole year lol. Never at 7:30. But you can't finish everything. Nursing is a 24/7 job and if you have to endorse things to the next nurse then do so...because they'll be there for another 12 hr shift. But don't beat urself up over this. You worked your butt off and deserve better. Perhaps look for another place to work where the ratios aren't so crazy. I find that time management and delegating tasks are the best way to leave early but i myself am struggling to get that down because im to passive i end up doing everything especially if the tech as a bad attitude and can't be found. Anyways i totally feel your pain...yesterday i left work at 9:15pm and my shift is a 7a-7p and i only had 5 patients but 2 of the pt's i was guna call a rapid on. And thats all she wrote lol. Stress is the worse disease...don't take work home. Hakuna matata:)